South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met Tuesday with a group of Korean residents in Indonesia before attending a series of regional summits, saying the government will provide the assistance they need to do business and put down roots in their new country.

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee met with some 180 Korean businesspeople and community leaders over dinner at a hotel in Jakarta shortly after arriving in the country for a series of summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"As the Republic of Korea government seeks to become a global pivotal state, the people we should take care of first are all of you, our overseas nationals," Yoon said, noting the establishment of the Overseas Koreans Agency in June.

"The Overseas Koreans Agency will closely connect you to your homeland and play the role of a reliable fence by becoming a global business hub for all overseas Koreans," he said.

Yoon recounted the history between South Korea and Indonesia, saying annual bilateral trade has grown from less than $200 million when they established diplomatic relations 50 years ago to $26 billion last year.

He also recalled that the Korean community began forming in Indonesia in the 1960s to export wood to South Korea and then grew to work in textiles, shoemaking and other manufacturing industries starting in the 1980s.

Yoon promised the government will closely listen to the voices of overseas Koreans.

"We will provide solid support so that our multicultural next-generation compatriots can further grow and develop in the local community while maintaining their Korean identity," he said. (Yonhap)